SPAM Introduces Sir-Can-a-Lot, Partners With Roy Choi

Americans' love/hate affair with SPAM goes way back to 1937 when the canned meat, named SPAM (short for spiced ham) was launched by Hormel Foods.

We're not sure how well it was initially received, but soon World War II broke out and the canned meat was in high demand to feed Allied troops.

In fact, between 1941 and 1945, over 100 million pounds of the "meat" was sent overseas to feed our soldiers.

Since then, over seven billion cans of the pink, squishy-yet-solid meat have been sold. It's featured on t-shirts, has its own song, fan club...and museum!

And yet...SPAM has always been more the punchline of a joke than the basis of a delicious meal.

SPAM, celebrating its 75th birthday, has decided to change that with the launch of a new mascot, Sir-Can-a-Lot which, we guess, keeps in keeping with the whole Monty Python-meets-meat-that-requires-no-refrigeration theme.

And -- just to add some other crazy ingredient into the mix -- they've teamed up with Roy Choi from Kogi BBQ Truck in California. No, Choi will not travel the country in chain mail (though we admit we'd like to see that), but he will create recipes for the brand. Of the pairing, Choi said, "This recipe creation has allowed me to also more intimately connect with my Korean heritage, Hawaii, and with all immigrant families that made their way to America,"

By the way, Hawaii has a strange love affair with SPAM the origins of which go back to wartime. Hawaiians consume more SPAM than people in any other state.

Laine Doss is the food and spirits editor for Miami New Times, covering the restaurant and bar scene in South Florida. She has been featured on Cooking Channel’s Eat Street and Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race. Doss won an Alternative Weekly award for her feature on what it’s like to wait tables. In a previous life, she appeared off-Broadway and shook many a cocktail as a bartender at venues in South Florida and New York City. When she’s not writing, you can find Doss running some marathon then celebrating at the nearest watering hole.